Share this with

The team quit over their ‘lack of hope’ for the fairer Britain Theresa May had promised (Picture: REX/Shutterstock)

Theresa May is suffering mass resignations, after her social mobility boss quit over a lack of hope for the promised ‘fairer Britain’.

Alan Milburn, the former Labour minister who has headed the Government’s Social Mobility Commission since 2012, said he had ‘little hope’ that May was capable of making the changes necessary to deliver a more equal society.

He was joined in walking out by three of his fellow commissioners, including the Tory former cabinet minister Baroness Shephard.

The resignations are a huge setback for May, who entered No 10 promising to tackle the ‘burning injustices’ that hold poorer people back in the UK.

In his resignation letter, Milburn said the preoccupation with Brexit meant the Government ‘does not have the necessary bandwith to ensure the rhetoric of healing social division is matched with the reality’.

To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web
browser that
supports HTML5
video

Alan Milburn quit as the chair of the Social Mobility Commission (Picture: REX/Shutterstock)

He said: ‘I have little hope of the current Government making the progress I believe is necessary to bring about a fairer Britain.

Advertisement

Advertisement

‘It seems unable to commit to the future of the commission as an independent body or to give due priority to the social mobility challenge facing our nation.’

It comes just days after the commission warned that unless the economic, social and local divisions laid bare by the Brexit vote were addressed, there would be a rise in far-right extremism.

The Government’s preoccupation with Brexit has caused social fairness to suffer (Picture: Getty Images)

Speaking to The Observer, Milburn added: ‘The worst position in politics is to set out a proposition that you’re going to heal social divisions and then do nothing about it. It’s almost better never to say you’ll do anything about it.

‘It’s disappointing at least that the Government hasn’t got its shoulder to the wheel in the way it should to deal with these structural issues that lead to social division and political alienation in the country.

‘In America for 30 years real average earnings have remained flat. Now here the Chancellor is predicting that will last for 20 years. That has a consequence for people, but a political consequence as well. It means more anger, more resentment, and creates a breeding ground for populism.’

Theresa May had promised a ‘fairer Britain’ when she entered No 10 last year (Picture: PA)

Shadow cabinet office minister Jon Trickett said the resignations came as ‘no surprise’.

‘As inequality has grown under the Tories, social mobility has totally stalled,’ he said. ‘Theresa May has rewarded the rich whilst holding everyone else back.